Lalime Helps StoneHill Move Past Purple Knights 58-53

Abbey Lalime in action for Stonehill against St. Michael's this past weekend.
(Photo Ken Wells)

By

Ken Wells, Express Publisher

COLCHESTER-It’s been a winding road for the last two years for former Lake Region standout Abbey Lalime. The Orleans native has landed at her second school in as many years playing now for Division Two Stonehill, located some 30 miles outside Boston.
Lalime got good minutes as part of the 5-3 Skyhawks Northeast Ten ballcub. Stonehill held off a furious St. Mikes rally to win by five 58-53. Lalime played 16 minutes versus the purple Knights. She hit a ten footer in the lane and nailed a long three pointer giving her team they’re biggest lead of the evening before the Knights whittled away to close within two with 35 seconds to go.
Abbey displayed that tough hard nosed defense, and long range jump shooting that she was famous for at Lake Region. She picked up three personal fouls and grabbed three rebounds with two assists during the afternoon encounter.
St. Mikes came back from 11 points down before falling to 4-5 on the season.
Lalime came out of LRUHS as part of the Class of 2010. She was the key first gem of the Lady Rangers group of six or seven blue chip female athletes that rewrote LRU athletics from 2007 through 2011. Abbey was the first of a new group of LRU student athletes.
These females athletes provide the foundation for a five year run that achieved unparalleled continual success raising the bar forever at the high school. Those seven played three sports and excelled in all of them.
Lalime finished as the all time leading scorer in Ranger basketball history, boy or girl, and she earned the Burlington Free Press “Miss Basketball” state wide award as a senior. She scored 39 goals in soccer despite foregoing her senior year. She made her league first team All-Star in softball as a catcher even though she played only two years, all to devote time to basketball.
She had picked up the game of hoop in sixth grade after being an outstanding hockey player playing in the Boarder Hockey boy’s league putting up 30 goal seasons regularly and virtually assuring herself of a full college scholarship for hockey.
Hoop was a big hit immediately as Abbey with running mates Paige Wells and Danika Gallup roared through a 66-3 record as members of Coach Laurie Souliere’s Orleans Patriots junior high girls team. AAU success and LRUHS’s four straight finals
That did it for hockey and when she switched to hoop and the end result of that commitment was a full Division One athletic scholarship to the University of Vermont.
When former UVM coach Sharon Dawley, who had recruited Abbey, moved on the UMASS, Abbey chose to go with her keeping her full scholarship in place as well.
That was a short lived decision as Abbey felt she had not been given the playing time she was promised. The commitment to a DI school program were immense.
A nagging foot injury contributed to her lack of minutes and by the end of the grueling Division One campaign she had had enough. She decided to forgo her scholarship and move on.
She said, “It didn’t work out the way I planned. Stonehill wanted me and they have a good program where I can play. Plus some friends I played AAU basketball with are coming as well. It’s been a great fit since the first day.”
While the foot problem lingered on into the start of hoop camp, it has improved. Abbey says, ”It’s the best it’s been since I had the walking cast. As it has gotten stronger my minutes have gone up as well.”
Saint Michaels head coach, Jen Neibling, a former Randolph high school 1000 point scorer and a UVM 1000 point scorer and a big part of UVM’s incredible 52 game win streak in the nineties knows Abbie’s past. Jen worked the Red, White and Blue basketball camps held in Orleans County as well. She said, “Abbey played well today and she has always been a solid player. She will be happy at Stonehill, they have a great staff and a good program.”
For Lalime it’s a new adventure and a continuing saga to what has been an outstanding athletic career. A career that has a few pages still to be written. And it all started at Orleans Graded school.